Railway-tie shifter



.6. w. WILLIAMS RAILWAY TIE SHIFTER Filed Oct. 11, 1923 Patented Oct.14, 1924.

UNITED STATES GEORGE w. wILLIAius, or ELM ciir Y, iionfbfi antennaI'tAILwAY-TIE siiiitrrnii.

Application filed October 11, 1923; serm No. 667,875.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE W. WILLIAMS, citizen of the United States,residing at Elm City, in the county of Wilson and State of NorthCarolina, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inRailway-Tie Shifters, of which the following is a specification. 3

This invention relates toflcer'tain new and useful improvements inrailway tie Shifting devices and has particular reference to a railclamp adapted to form an abutment for a jack en'iplo'yed in shiftingrailway ties longitudinally of the rails to their proper position:

The primary object of the invention is to provi'dea railway clanip ofthe above: kind which embraces the desired qualities of simplicity;durability, and elliciency in operiitldn:

Another object is to provide a-rail clamp of the above kind which hasjaw members so formed and related as to effectively prevent slipping ofthe clamp longitudinally of the rail and to prevent downward tilting ordisplacement of the clamp bodily upwardly" relative 'to or from the.rail, accidentally, while permitting ready removal of the clamp from therail when manually tilted upwardly;

Another object is to "generally simplify and improve rail clamps of theabove kind, whereby the same may meet with all of the requirements for asuccessful commercial use.

Other objects will appear as the nature of the invention is betterunderstood, and the same consists in the novel form, combination andarrangement or parts 'hereinafter more fully described, shownin theaccompanying drawings; and claimed.

In the drawing, wherein like reference characters indi'catecorresponding parts throughout the" views":

Figure lis a framentarytop plan-view illustrating-a tie shifting deviceembodying a rail clanip constructedih accordance with t'hep'resentinvent-ionand operatively related with a rail and: tie;

Figure 2 is a sideelevatidnial view of the rail clampshowfi in Figure 1,drawn on a larger scaleand shown op'e'rati'vely engaged with the rail,and

Figure 3 is a View similar to Figure 2,

' showing the" clamp as' it appears partially engaged with the rail toillustrate ner ofapplying the clamp. I 4

In the form of the invention shown in the drawings, the clain embodies asingle sheet of suitable niatria' :such as steel, formed to themanprovide a body portion 5 having. relatively shallow rectangularsocket 6 mopposite sides -there'of and provided upon one end withmtegral jaws 7 and 8, the angular jaw 7 being ,h-fangultr form ;so. asto ektend across the ball of the tail 9 as shown in Figure 2, andtodepend at' 'thejarther side of the ball-of. the rail. when applied. .1 1

The innerjaw giprojzcts downwardly and inwardly below the; outer jaw/T;and' the upper portion of the face ofthajaw 8 which is opposed to theface ofthe dependingpor't'ion of the jaw -7 conform to and lie closelyadjacent opposite sides of the ball of the rail Q'Wl'ienthe clanip isappliedas is also shown-in Figure 2, wherein the innersui'face' of theupper horizontal portion of the'jaw 7 isdi'sposed upon the top of thebar of the rail. 7

The lower end-ofthe depending arm of the outer jaw 7 is pr'ovitledwith atransversely extending arc'uate recesslo in which the adjacent lowercorner portions of the ball of the rail may engage when the clamp istilted upwardly as shown in Figure 3, for thus forming a fulcrum aboutwhich the clampis tilted.- The projecting lower' portion of the innerjaw 8 has its inner .face curved or of arcuate form as at 11, and thecenter of curvature of the face 11 is at the fulcrum point furnished bythe arcuate re- In' applying the clamp to the'rail 9, the jaw 7 isengaged with the ball of, the rail so that a lower corner of the ball ofthe railis'seatd' within the recess 10, as shown in Figure 3; Thehlampisthntilted-downwardly in the direction of the arrow (1 as is permittedby the arcuate face 11 forming a clearance for the opposite side of theball of the rail, and then the; clamp is shifted slightly in a,horizontal? directionio i transversely ofthe rail to brir'fg thloweieri'd of" the ja-w 8 into contact with the, wehr of the rail asshownin- Figure: 2,. Whei t;hus" disposed-,'- thelower end' of thedepending arni of the jaw 7 is disposed-beneath ohe side of the ball ofthe rail and the upper end ofthe inwardly projecting lower. pintion orthe jaw 8 is disposed" beneath" the E In!" -.as aboveivdescribedwand asshown in F igure 1, at one side of the -tie12 to be shifted.Any-suitableformiofjacki13 is then placed between. adjacent sides-oftheclamp and the/tie 12 with the. base act the jackHengaging'thetieasat. 14 and with the head -15 of athe jack engaged in the socket 6iniithe adjacent side of.. the body, portion 5 ofrtheiclamp. n lVhen thejack is operated in. thejuproperimannerto extend the same, the clamp isslightly .canted so as to dig uintou'the: sides of the rail with agripping engagement that .is increased 'in .proportion (302 1118increase in pressure exerted against-the clamp by the jack. Thus,uas

the clampcannot .movelongitudinallyi of the rail,.the 1tie-12 willwbe.forced away Ffrom :the clamp OB-Shlfted' to its ,proper position.xeByproviding a socket 6 in each 'sideiof the body portion 5,vthe vclamp maybe utilized upon either rail .of'a track, or

the jack may be utilized at either side of th clamp. In, removing theclamp, the same is merely tilted upwardly from the-po- -'sition .of'Figurez2,'to'a position slightly further upwardly than "shown in Figure3, whereupon the jaws are. so related to the-ball of the rail as topermit the clamps ready removal. a

From the-foregoing description, it is believed vthat the construction.and operation as well as the advantages of the present invention will bereadily understood and appreciated by those skilled in the art.

Minor changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention as claimed.

W'hat-I claim as new is:

1. Ina railway tie shifting device, a rail clamp includinga body memberhaving rigid inner and outer jaws upon one end thereof and adapted toform an abutment :for a jack, the outer jaw being of angular form so asto extend across the top and extend downwardly along one side of the:ball of the rail, the downwardly extend- -ing-portion of said outer jawbeing provided with anarcuate recess in the lower portion thereofadapted'to engage adjacent lower. corner 1 portions of the ball of therail to provide a fulcrum about which the clamp may be bodily tilted inapplying or removingzthe latter, said inner jaw dependof the rail, thedownwardly extending portion of said outer-jaw being provided with anarcuate recess. in the lower portion thereof adapted to engage the adjacentr lower corner portion of the ball ofthe rail to provide a fulcrumabout which the clamp may be bodily .tilted in applying or removing thelatter, said inner. aw depending be1 and extending inwardly towardthe-outer jaw and having the inner face ofithe lower portion .thereof ofarcuate form .with its center of curvature at 'said fulcrum, saidinwardly extending lower end portion ofthe inner jaw being arranged toengage the adjacent side of the web of a rail when the clamp isoperatively applied to the latter for limiting downward tilting movementof the clamp at a point wherein the body.

portionis horizontally disposed at .one "side of the rail in properposition to act as an abutment-for a jack. 1' i .3.'In a railwaytie'shifting device, a rail clamp including a body member, havingrigid'inner and outer jaws upon one end thereof and adapted to form anabutment for a jackathe outer jaw being of angular form so as to'extendacross the top and extend downwardly along one side of the ball of therail, the downwardly extending portion of said outer jaw being providedwith an arcuate recess in the lower portion thereof adapted to engageadjacent lower corner portions of the ball of the rail to provide afulcrum about which the clamp may be bodily tilted in applying orremoving the latter, said inner jaw depending below and extendinginwardly'toward the outer jaw and having the inner face of the lowerportion thereof of arcuate form' with its center of curvature at saidfulcrum, the portion of the outer jaw below the arcuate recess thereofand the upper end of the lower portion of the inner jaw providingshoulders positioned beneath oppositesides of the ball of the rail whenthe clamp is completely applied to the latter, whereby direct upwarddisplacement of the clamp from the rail'is prevented.

4. In a' railway tie shifting device, a rail clamp including a bodymember having rigid inner and outer jaws upon one end thereof andadapted to :form an abutment for a jack, the outer jaw being of angularform so as to extend across the top and extend downwardly along one sideof-the ball of the rail, the downwardly extending portion of said outerjaw being provided with an arcuate recess in the lower portion thereofadapted to engage adjacent lower corner portions of the ball of the railto provide a fulcrum about which the clamp may be bodily tilted inapplying or removing the latter, said inner jaw depending below and ofcurvature at said fulcrum, said body portion having sockets in oppositesides thereof for seating reception of the head of the jack.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

GEO. W. WILLIAMS.

